Deserving Better
by Asumi Yu
Summary: After the war with the Reapers Shepard is found, but will she make it out alive?


**_A/N: This is a fix-it fix of sorts; I'm just another person extremely unhappy with the endings. In my playthrough I chose the destroy option and after the nonsense scene where the Normandy crashes on some random planet there was the short clip of Shepard breathing in what some people have assumed is London. So that's where I'm starting this. Also, I'm disregarding the whole Normandy crash scene…maybe it was just something Shepard saw in their head before they passed out? I have no idea currently where I'm going with this. /long intro _ **

"Ma'am, you're not allowed back here."

Another voice. "Ma'am, you've got multiple lacerations to your legs and feet…how you're even moving is beyond everyone on my staff. Your right arm is also badly fractured in many places, so it'd be in your best interest -" 

_No, I have to see_ her_, I have to know if she's really alive._

The first voice again, "Miss T'Soni, if you don't stop right now we'll have no choice but to take serious actions by forcibly taking you back to your room, strapping you down to your bed, and sedating you. I know you're worried but the doctors here are doing everything in their power to make sure the Commander remains with us."

Liara stopped mid hobble at that. "'Remains with us'?"

The second voice spoke and this time Liara looked up at its owner. A young human female doctor, could be no older than thirty, with a gentle face and green eyes (_like Shepard's_, the Asari grimaced) nodded slowly, "Yes, she's in critical condition, but we're convinced she'll make it. Since we found her amongst the rubble we've been able to keep her vitals stable and her breathing even, it's always a good sign when the patient is able to breathe on their own. If it was anyone else I wouldn't be so hopeful, but from what I've heard the Commander's already died once. She's not going down without a real fight."

"Truer words have never been spoken."

"Garrus!" Liara would know that voice anywhere. "Where did you come from?"

"While you, Ashley, and Shepard stormed the beam the rest of us stayed in the towers providing sniper and biotic support. Remember when you had a husk grab you while you guys were waiting for those canons to power up? Yeah, it was me who shot the bastard right between the eyes, you can repay me later." he laughed and his mandibles moved in what Liara had come to know as a grin. "Luckily the others are no worse for wear, though I may have some new scars here or there I'm sure the ladies will like. I believe Tali and EDI are already assisting the left over engineers in repairing the towers so we're not relying solely on generators. Javik and Vega are out scouting for anymore husks that might have made it past the Alliance soldiers, despite doctors orders to rest. Speaking of which…"

Liara looked over to the young doctor again, a scowl on her face and her mouth twitching to keep a smile in place. With the earlier anxiety of worrying about Shepard somewhat subdued Liara began to feel guilty for her behavior, the woman was just doing her job and surely had other patients to attend to; some most likely worse off than she was if she allowed herself to think about all those soldiers on the ground they were forced to pass over while in the heat of the battle.

She felt Garrus place a hand on her shoulder and start to slowly steer her back in the direction of her room. "Don't worry, Doctor, I'll make sure she gets back and stays in bed this time."

The scowl on the doctor's face vanished and she let out a long held in sigh, which made Liara feel even worse. "Thank you. Miss T'Soni, a nurse or I will check on you periodically through the day to see how you're feeling and to tell you if there's any news on the Commander's condition. I was informed that you're listed as her first emergency contact should anything happen."

"I-I see. I appreciate your help, Doctor and I apologize for my earlier outbursts, it won't happen again."

"It's understandable, right now everyone's having a hard time. No one came out of this war unscathed." Liara caught a quick glimpse of a sad smile on the human woman's face. "Let us know if you need anything."

"I will."

Liara and Garrus watched in silence as the doctor and a fellow nurse walked briskly down the hallway, the heavy burden of saving hundreds of lives on their shoulders. The doctor suddenly reminded Liara of Shepard, of how tired she was towards the end but refused to lose any of her resolve - letting people down was simply not an option.

Garrus still had his hand on her shoulder as they stood there watching and his grip tightened a little. "Things can only get better from here, for everyone…Shepard made sure of that." _He must have been thinking the same thing I was._"Come on, let's get you to your room like I promised. You look exhausted."

Back in her room Garrus helped Liara into her bed, it was hard to do much of anything with the current condition of her leg. The doctors said there was a low chance or scarring and she'd be able to walk again with no assistance like before if she gave herself time to heal. "You're lucky to be alive," they kept saying. Liara didn't feel very lucky when her lover was somewhere in this makeshift hospital clinging onto life with the possibility that tomorrow she could be dead. Of course this was true of everyone, but not everyone was the great Commander Shepard. The hero, the legend, the icon. _She deserves so much better than this._

"Hey Liara, how are you feeling?" she'd never heard Garrus sound so concerned.

"As tired as I probably look. It feels like days since I've slept but my worry keeps me up at night. It's been three days since the Reapers were destroyed and she's still not waking up, Garrus. They won't even let me see her and only today was I told anything about her condition. Why are they hiding things from me? Does she really look that bad? She should be out celebrating, considering all she's done for this damn galaxy! I can't s-stand -" the slow burn of embarrassment washed over her as felt tears trickle down her face. _No, I need to be stronger than this._

"Hey." the hand on her shoulder was there again. Even though Liara had known Garrus for years it didn't feel right letting him see her cry, only one person in the past three years had seen her cry. "I bet they're just waiting for you to heal more and feel better before you go see her. Nothing's going to happen to Shepard, she's come too far to give up on life now."

Liara said nothing, this was like the situation on Thessia all over again when she had let her emotions get the better of her. There were more tears threatening to spill over, so instead of looking as Garrus she tried to concentrate on the view outside her window. With so much debris and destruction she hadn't seen the sun once the entire time they'd been on Earth, it was a little disconcerting. James had told her stories of how beautiful London was before the war and showed her vids of the royal palaces and a giant clock tower. Where were those buildings now?

"Tell me about the rest of the crew, how are they doing?" she seemed to have startled Garrus out of a reverie, he had also been gazing out the window.

"Let's see, who didn't I tell you about earlier? Oh, Joker has been stuck with the Alliance doing rescue missions to Mars and other planets in the Sol system, looking for both people and pieces of the exploded relays. Alliance figures if we can even the smallest bits it will make rebuilding them a little easier."

"How's the Lieutenant-Commander? She was with us when we made a run for the beam and I haven't heard anything about her here."

Garrus laughed, "Ashley was in her bed for a day, that's how long the small staff here could keep her before she caused a scene. She said she humanity needed one of its human Spectres, so they put a cast on her broken arm and away she limped to Admiral Hackett's side. She's been helping him plan the rescue missions and try to find supplies for the wounded."

"Sounds like Ashley." Liara smiled and allowed herself to look at Garrus' face again, the previous shame pushed away by the laughter in the room. He returned her smile and stood up.

"I should let you rest. I'll let the others know how you're feeling, maybe even suggest that they stop by when they're not busy trying to rebuild this mess of a galaxy."

"I'd like that." she watched him head towards the door before adding, "Thanks, Garrus, for everything today."

"Of course. How long have we known each other now? This is no big deal. Remind me to bring chocolates next time I visit." a quick pause. "Or I'm sure next time I'm here you, Shepard, and I will all be sitting together sharing jokes and maybe a drink if the hospital staff allows it."

Again Liara said nothing and turned towards the window, the ugly view of the black dirty sky. She couldn't imagine a life without Shepard; a world without Shepard didn't make sense. All she could hope for now was that the doctors would let her see Shepard tomorrow. _I'm her "emergency contact"...she must have known something like this would happen._


End file.
